The Necessity of a Charitable Disposition

Austin (00:01.206) Grace and peace, friends. Welcome back to United We Pray. Austin Souter joined again by Reverend Joshua Chapman. How you doing, Josh? Joshua Chatman (00:08.666) Oh the reverend that’s pretty funny and oh, that’s even funnier I’m doing man. I’m exhausted and excited at the same time like it’s definitely possible so yeah exhausted from Recently haven’t done a half marathon and in still recovering from that And excited in that man my wife and I we’re going on a date tonight. And so Austin (00:10.795) The Bishop. Austin (00:28.118) Yeah. Austin (00:35.43) Amen. Joshua Chatman (00:36.094) Yeah, yeah. And so got the Kool-Aid smile going on. How you doing? How you doing, brother? Austin (00:40.962) Very good. We’re doing okay. Kids are sick, so I’m feeling pretty off today. So if I start talking weird, rein us back in. Joshua Chatman (00:47.185) Aw man. Hmm Joshua Chatman (00:55.655) I doubt you do, brother. I’m sorry that you’re feeling under the weather, that your family is. Austin (00:58.558) No, we’re okay. Yeah. Well, we wanted to do this episode today talking about the work of bridge building and how those of us who care about ethnic harmony in the church and are trying to sort of push these conversations, it can be hard because it’s not always well received. And we talked about the essential things we need. Obviously, this ministry is devoted to praying about racial strife, ethnic disharmony. Joshua Chatman (01:17.587) Hmm. Yeah. Austin (01:27.602) And prayer is essential. We don’t have any hope of succeeding apart from prayer. We know that. But you said that you thought another thing was necessary, and that is a charitable disposition. Joshua Chatman (01:31.892) Absolutely. Joshua Chatman (01:41.57) Yeah? Austin (01:41.75) How would you define a charitable disposition? Joshua Chatman (01:45.959) Um, really good question. So I would say a charitable disposition is, you know, disposition is more so like the attitude and the posture of one’s heart and charity or charitable is one of those old English terms that we don’t use very often. Um, you know, specifically in the context of love, like oftentimes we think of charity, we just think about, you know, giving to a good cause. Um, but I would define charity more. in the language of love. You know, sometimes King James, I believe, uses the word charity. It is synonymous for love. So I would say a charitable disposition is one’s attitude and heart posture is one towards loving those that they are interacting with and conversation with and stuff like that. Austin (02:32.818) Now is having a disposition, is that just like a function of your wiring? Like how God’s made you, God made some of us nicer than others? Joshua Chatman (02:42.536) Oh man, so we all made an image of God and the God who made us is a God of love. You know, triune God, He is love within Himself. giving love, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and being made in His image. You know, you think about the communicable attributes. These are attributes that God possesses within Himself in infinite measure that He has given His image bearers to be able to reflect. And so we do have the ability to love. Some may be naturally inclined towards niceness. At the same time, I do believe that since we’re made in the image of God, we can and we should Now, the reality is sin has corrupted us. And so we definitely need the Lord. Yeah, we definitely need the Lord and we need his grace, we need his spirit. I think all Christians, seeing that we’ve been redeemed by Christ, we have his spirit living within us, we have the second command to love our neighbors, ourselves. I do believe that by God’s grace and the spirit. part of the fruit of the spirit is love, we can and we have the ability to and we should show love. That’s a long answer, but yeah. Austin (03:55.574) Well, no, it’s really helpful because you’re getting at something. You’re not just talking about a feeling or a natural wiring. Like it’s in vibes. This is you’re talking about something specific. Joshua Chatman (04:04.302) Nah. Yeah. Yeah, most definitely. Like, man, it takes effort. It is something specific, you know, and it’s something that we also have to push back against our fleshly desires because those things just doesn’t come natural, especially within the conversation about race that can be contentious, that can be volatile. There are differing opinions on these matters. And so Like even when you think about. charitable disposition, it’s easy to be charitable towards those who think like you. Like Jesus gets at that in Matthew 5, you know, if you love those who love you, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles do this. So it’s easy to do that with people who think like you, who have the same convictions as you. It’s more so the charitable disposition is towards people who think differently than you, and that’s where it takes effort. That’s where it takes being empowered by God’s Spirit to do that. Austin (05:04.926) And you’re locating this as like basic Krishna obedience to the second commandment, second greatest commandment. Okay. Got it. Well, we better get it right then. Joshua Chatman (05:09.826) Facts. Yes, yes. Joshua Chatman (05:15.49) Hahaha Austin (05:18.902) So how do we know when we’re being charitable? Joshua Chatman (05:23.134) Mm-hmm. That’s a really good question Um, I would say we know we’re being charitable part of is being marked by kindness You know as we’re being kind towards those we’re interacting with you think about Colossians chapter 3 where Paul exhorts the church to put on then as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another. And all those attributes and those virtues are in the context of a relationship. And so if we are living out some of those things, being patient, being kind, when we’re representing well, the people that we are interaction with, or we may even disagree with, when we’re speaking well, of the person and refusing to get personal. I would say some of those things are evidences that we’re by God’s grace, we are being cherished and our heart disposition towards them isn’t one of anger. We’re not seeing them as an enemy that we need to defeat. What would you say though? Austin (06:30.814) Yeah. No, I really like where you went with that. I think Christians, it seems like this comes up pretty often in our conversations, Josh, but Christians are people who care about truth, and we want to get things right, and we want to contend for the truth. But if we view other people, if we view our relationships primarily as one of correction, we’re going to be getting this wrong often because we’re seeing other people as like… Joshua Chatman (06:44.908) Yeah. Joshua Chatman (06:54.576) Mm-hmm. Mm, yeah. Austin (06:58.314) walking errors for us to correct and let me interrogate you and figure out all the ways you don’t think like me so that I can set you straight. And like that is just not how the Bible speaks about us relating to each other as brothers and sisters in the Lord. Joshua Chatman (07:00.622) Mmmmmm Joshua Chatman (07:05.059) Mmm, that’s good. Joshua Chatman (07:11.626) Yeah, yeah, that’s really strong. That’s really strong. And even that, we’ve belittled the person, to the point to where it’s like, we’re not seeing them as an image bearer, who’s worthy of love, who’s worthy of honor. who’s worthy of respect, the very things that God has spoken about with his, like how we’re to interact towards fellow image bearers, fellow people, and yet alone, especially brothers and sisters, like we’ve given the command to love one another as Christ has loved us. And so they’re part of the household of faith, so how much more should we be loving? And when we’re, to your point, when we don’t have that disposition of, when we’re not being charitable, Joshua Chatman (07:53.816) person that we’re interacting with when God is commanding us to humanize them and love them as an image bearer. Austin (08:01.058) It’s a false dichotomy because do you choose grace or truth? No, I want them both. There might be a time in every relationship there’s times when you disagree and have to work it out. But if you’ve already set up the precedent and have the temperament of love sort of marking the relationships, then disagreements are just going to be so much less contentious. Joshua Chatman (08:07.333) Amen! Joshua Chatman (08:14.375) Mm-hmm. Joshua Chatman (08:20.603) Mmm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, that’s real good. Austin (08:29.886) You mentioned how if you’re not being charitable, you might notice it first in your heart. I think that’s probably right. Like we can, we’re usually feeling something before we act, right? What are some of those warning signs in your heart? Like how could you, what should sort of be a blinking yellow light on your dashboard? Joshua Chatman (08:41.788) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Joshua Chatman (08:51.495) No, that’s really good. One, I would probably say one of the most evident things is our tone. We’re starting to raise our voice, but we’re starting to get sharp. That’s, I would say that’s one of those flashing, or we’re tempted towards that. We feel within our heart the temptation towards that. That’s one of those flashing lights in the car, the check engine light, like, yo, you trippin’ right now. Especially you think about Proverbs 15, one. A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath. And so, if I’m being more and more tempted towards spewing out a harsh word that I’m in conversation with about the topics of, you know, ethnic harmony and stuff like that, then that needs to serve as some sort of alarm clock that man, hey, I’m walking towards the path of not being charitable, you know? Like, what would you say, anything to add to that or? Austin (09:56.202) Well, I’m just trying to think through different scenarios because yes, I agree with everything you said and in the normal course of Christian life, that’s probably exactly right. I’m also thinking of different scenarios, say someone is going home for the holidays and old Uncle Jim at the table. I feel like we just use that caricature. I know some really nice Jims. But you know, you’re… You get your old uncle at the table who says something like, totally out of pocket and is being straight up racist. Shy was on a few weeks ago and said that it is unloving and unfaithful not to confront that. So I guess I’m trying to sort of find where the borders are on this of like, do you have to extend charity even when you find yourself dealing with someone who is less than charitable? Joshua Chatman (10:27.343) Mm-hmm. Joshua Chatman (10:38.26) Mm-hmm. Joshua Chatman (10:51.478) That’s a real good question. Well, I would certainly agree with Shai and what I’m encouraging is not by any means disagreeing with him as well. To where we do owe everyone love, Matthew, not Matthew, but Romans 13 talks about that and even Jesus himself says, love your enemies. And so we do need to love our enemies even in that moment, the uncle who is being uncharitable. At the same time, Having said that, you do lovingly confront them. You do it in love though. You do it with gentleness. You do it with humility. You try to do it winsomely by the grace of God. And so what I would say is yes, still have those conversations, still lovingly confront. And if it’s the older Uncle Jim, we gotta think about what 1 Timothy 5 says, treat older men as fathers. So we need to be very careful. honoring and loving in the way that we do confront, challenge, correct, even the things that Uncle Jim may spew out at that family hangout. Austin (12:02.742) Yeah, and it gets brought up as a caricature, as the extreme scenario, but this is real. Folks traveling for the holidays have to deal with stuff. We just had the holiday season here, but listener, if you were in that kind of situation, I’m sorry. It’s tough. Joshua Chatman (12:11.35) Yeah, oh yeah. Joshua Chatman (12:18.11) Yeah, yeah, very, very. And it’s tempting to, you know, wanna repay evil for evil. It’s tempting to want to put this person in their place real quick, or to just call them out and, man, just go ahead and go off on them. At the same time, like, we need to be compelled by the love of Jesus. to resist our flesh, to even want to honor him with our speech. You know, again, that doesn’t mean don’t have a conversation. What it does mean is, like, man, have it in love. You know? But what was your, what was the initial question like, I know we kind of deviated from it. What was the original question you asked? Like, how? Austin (13:02.826) No, you answered it. I was just asking how you extend charity even when you’re not receiving it. But I mean, that’s familiar Christian stuff, right? Do not repay evil for evil. If, you know, if your neighbor slaps you on one cheek, you know, like this is, we’re just normal basic Jesus stuff that is hard and countercultural. But it’s also clear, like this is, it’s clear. We don’t get to repay evil for evil. Joshua Chatman (13:08.694) Mmm. Joshua Chatman (13:15.606) Yeah. Joshua Chatman (13:19.522) Mm-hmm. Joshua Chatman (13:23.122) Yeah. Very. Yeah. Joshua Chatman (13:30.418) Yeah, well, and on top of that, there is a place of wisdom. I think somewhere in the Proverbs talks about how a wise man sees danger ahead and avoids it. And so it’s like, man, if your disposition of my heart is not right, I don’t need to say anything right now. One of the wisest things I can do is be slow to speak, step away, and still follow up. But in the moment, recognizing like… Austin (13:39.39) Yeah. Austin (13:48.738) Yeah. Yep. Joshua Chatman (13:57.258) you know, a disposition of charity may be me to step, may be me stepping away in the moment. That way I don’t actually sin against this person and my anger. Austin (14:08.354) Let me ask you this, just switching gears slightly. How do you build a culture of charity? So I’m thinking in our churches, in our families, if we’re parents and have kids, like how do we build a culture of charity where that’s sort of seen as normal? Joshua Chatman (14:22.622) Yeah, yeah, I would, I know, you know, the name of the podcast, United We Pray, I would say, definitely pray first and foremost, you know, ask and you shall receive. And so pray for God to do that work within us, within the people at the, within the local church. I’ll also say modeling it is very important. Commending very well, critiquing, but doing it in a manner that is upbuilding. So living out Ephesians four, let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion. So thinking through like, man, in what ways will this actually build this person up? How is this fitting for that? Continually expressing love, having conversations with people, like. How can we go about fostering a culture of charity within, you know, saying within the congregation, within this group? You know, one of the things like, man, my wife and I, we tried to do with our kids is we committed to memory, Matthew 22, 37 through 39, you know, like the first and great command to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. we’re constantly trying to remind ourselves and our children, you know, like of that, like what is the second? Love your neighbor as yourself. So what, how can that look like in this situation while giving it time, you know, what would you say? Like… Austin (16:10.002) No, I think that’s great. And I was just thinking about the role of humility in this because I think humility is just, humility underpins so much Christian obedience and love for others. The more I’m thinking about me, the less I’m thinking about you, the less I’m thinking about how to love you. And it’s like- Joshua Chatman (16:14.352) Mmm, come on. Joshua Chatman (16:20.469) Hmm Joshua Chatman (16:26.11) Yeah, yeah, that’s strong. Austin (16:28.406) Philippians to have this in mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus who was the who though He was in the form of God to not count equality with God a thing to be grasped But emptying himself taking form of a servant being born in the likeness of men being found in human form He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on the cross like Just that Jesus is more than our teacher. He’s our Savior, but the personal example of Jesus who’s like Joshua Chatman (16:45.983) Mmm Joshua Chatman (16:51.768) Mmm, come on. Austin (16:57.634) patiently with people he made. Like, the gap in power and knowledge has never been greater, and he’s so humble and he’s so patient and he’s so kind when he is the one who has reason not to be. If there is someone who had an excuse to be short and impatient with people, it’s Jesus. But he doesn’t. Joshua Chatman (17:00.526) Mmm. Mmm! Joshua Chatman (17:09.187) Mmm. Come on. Mmm. Joshua Chatman (17:18.484) Mmm. Joshua Chatman (17:24.066) Mmm. Joshua Chatman (17:28.814) Come on, come on, you preaching over there. Put this man in the pulpit. Come on, it’s coming out. Let’s go. That man preaching that truth. That’s good. That’s really good. And you’re absolutely right though. Like humility is needed, is needed. To the point you said, yeah, man, if we’re thinking highly of ourselves. Austin (17:32.202) They get in my man they get cooped up in this studio all day. Joshua Chatman (17:56.459) We’re thinking lowly of others and we’re certainly not going to extend love to them. You know? Austin (18:00.266) Yeah. And in that moment though, like we can, we can talk about this and we can, you know, meditate on the person of Jesus and that’s, that’s what we, it’s what we need to do. But in that moment when that person says something that catches you crossways, like it’s hard, it’s hard. Joshua Chatman (18:11.274) Yes. Joshua Chatman (18:16.282) Yeah, very, yeah. Like it is really, really difficult. Not even gonna sugar coat it because. you’d be tempted to pull like a Shannon Sharp. I don’t know if you watched first take. I watched first take, I definitely listened to it. And Shannon Sharp, it was a couple of weeks ago on one episode, he was saying how LeBron was disrespected by E-Man Udoka and he was like, I ain’t with that Michelle Obama. You know, he say, you go low, I go to the basement. He he he. So it’s like that’s what we’re tempted towards. That’s what we’re tempted towards in that moment. Which is why we have to. you know, live out Ephesians 5 in a sense of, you know, being filled with the Spirit. We need like, man, we got to pray them quick, near my like prayers, like Lord help me out real quick, or reach out to, you know, your brothers and sisters in a quick text, like, yo, pray for me, or something like that. Or man, I’m just gonna excuse myself right now. And so yeah, like need that Spirit-wrought self-control. Austin (19:15.348) Yeah. Austin (19:30.442) Yeah, just shout out to the lovely Michelle Souter, who at several points in my life, like I’ve just felt the hand on the shoulder, like if she can just sort of see it coming, like. Joshua Chatman (19:41.106) I know my wife does the same thing. She puts the hand up. Sometimes she’s looking at me like, he does this stuff. Yeah. I know, I kinda take a start, you know, putting the hand down. I’m like, you right, baby. You right, you right. My bad, my bad. I’m getting a little riled up right now. Especially on these topics. Especially on the topics of race. You know what I’m saying? Racism. Austin (19:46.034) Yep. The look, the look, the eye contact. Austin (20:00.266) Yep. Joshua Chatman (20:08.926) ethnic disunity while seeing there’s a need for ethnic unity because of the gospel. And so when we ain’t vibing and it’s getting contentious, like, you know, I need those. I need my wife to remind me like, hey, baby. Austin (20:25.502) Yep. That that convicting tool of the Holy Spirit, you know, a good friend or a spouse like just. Yeah, grateful because you mentioned early in this episode, like these are these are virtues which are demonstrated in community. Like if you know, I enjoy doing things that are solitary, like being out in the woods and that sort of stuff by myself. Joshua Chatman (20:33.514) Yeah. Yeah. Joshua Chatman (20:45.131) Mm-hmm Austin (20:54.926) I may feel really charitable in such a setting, but there is no way to know. I’m not giving any examples to, you know. So in that community, we’re talking primarily about being charitable when you’re in disagreement, but you can help yourself in those disagreements by having people who know you and have your back and can tell you when you need to chill. Joshua Chatman (20:57.801) Mm-hmm. Joshua Chatman (21:02.547) Yeah. Joshua Chatman (21:19.458) facts, and have those conversations with you in private afterwards. You know, like, man, I need some people to point out the logs in my eyes, you know? To where it’s just like, yeah, Joshua, this is an area where you can grow in. In fact, it was… Austin (21:30.506) Yeah. Joshua Chatman (21:37.098) Man, I’ll never forget the brother who pulled me aside one time. He’s an elder at a church we used to be at, you know, and he just lovingly pointed that out to me, to which I was just like, man, thank you. Thank you so much, because we really do need that. Austin (21:52.598) Yeah, we do. And something to be said too for knowing your setting and situation. And like, if you know there’s a difficult conversation coming, like getting prayed up, having people praying for it when it’s going on, you know, just asking for the Lord’s help because, gosh, in our flesh, we’re not well equipped for this. Joshua Chatman (21:58.28) Mm-hmm. Joshua Chatman (22:02.526) Yeah. Yep. Joshua Chatman (22:11.958) Mm-hmm. Yeah. And even you think about like Psalm 133 how beautiful and precious it is when Brothers Dwell in Unity, was like, man, if we gonna pursue that, then we need the charitable disposition. And the pursuit of the charitable position is a pursuit of Christ-likeness. So we need to keep our gaze upon Jesus meditating on his word, to the point you said, we know about to have a difficult talk, man, I need to study some scriptures on love. You know what I’m saying? Get that word in me that the Holy Spirit may bring it to mind to where in those conversations, Austin (22:39.678) Yeah. Joshua Chatman (22:48.54) to flesh that out. Austin (22:51.306) I was having a conversation last evening with a brother in the Lord, dear friend who was in a really tough church situation and ended up having to leave that church. And it was really hard and it was really sad. And I remember when that was happening and walking through that with him and praying for him. And he was reflecting on that situation now several years after the fact. And he was talking about how he is just now more resolved to be kind. Like he is just what that situation did in him is like, I am not going to be the reason somebody doesn’t feel comfortable at church. Like, and he’s just, he’s got that commitment now in a way he didn’t have before, and it took a really hard situation for that to sort of be pressed into his mind of like, now he understands the importance of it in a way that he didn’t before. And it’s not like he was unkind before, as long as I’ve known him, he’s been extremely kind. Joshua Chatman (23:21.748) Mm. Joshua Chatman (23:27.399) Hmm Joshua Chatman (23:34.986) Mmm. Wow. Joshua Chatman (23:40.595) Mmm. Austin (23:51.966) But that resolve is so crystal clear in his mind. And I hate that he had to learn that lesson that way. Joshua Chatman (23:52.022) Mmm. Joshua Chatman (24:00.082) Yeah, wow, though. Wow, man, praise God for the resolve, the conviction. As sad as the situation it was, I imagine, and how discouraging it is, it’s super encouraging to hear his conviction in light of that. Austin (24:18.109) So that brings us actually to our last question, which is just what should a person do if they find themselves in a setting with an uncharitable culture? Joshua Chatman (24:27.694) Mmm. Well, that’s sad. And that’s a reality, being in a fallen world, that these things are going to be the way .. it’s going to be that way sometimes. And so, yeah, I would say pray. Pray fervently for the people that’s contributing towards that culture. Pray for one’s own heart. Pray for wisdom. I would also say it’d be great to process these things with a mature brother and sister in Christ. You know, again, to help make sure you’re seeing things clearly, to examine one’s own heart and life to make sure they don’t have a log in their eye, to examine one’s own heart and actions to see are there ways that I’ve contributed. to this culture being uncharitable, you know, and repenting of those. It’s not to say that is the case at the same time. It’s to say that you don’t wanna rule it out in and of itself. And so you wanna examine your own heart and those things are done well in the context of mature brothers and sisters who love you, who will be honest with you. And so I would say those things. I would say have personal conversations with people. within whether it’s the local church or that group, try to have conversations with them, pray for change, even bring it like, hey, this seems un-Christian. The culture say, you know, you wanna do it in love, you will do like as in-person as you can with per like, you know, one-on-one convos if possible. And you gotta be patient. And sometimes like the reality is, You just might have to leave. And there’s nothing sinful about that in and of itself. Austin (26:18.047) Yeah. Austin (26:22.966) Yeah, well, I’m envisioning a bunch of different settings. Most of that answer was about the context of a local church. May it not be so that there would be churches which is critical, ungracious, uncharitable cultures, but I know it happens. I’m also thinking this applies to your job. I was just having lunch with a brother at church who works at a big bank in downtown Birmingham. The culture there seems very critical. Joshua Chatman (26:26.742) Yeah. Joshua Chatman (26:38.946) Yeah. Joshua Chatman (26:42.429) Mm-hmm. Joshua Chatman (26:52.93) Hmm Austin (26:54.387) And, you know, I don’t know what his setting is. He might not have the opportunity to go get a different job. And gosh, if all of the Christians left all the hard jobs in the world, you know, where’d the salt and light go? So it’s just, we’re all going to have opportunities to model Christlikeness. And Joshua Chatman (27:01.737) Yeah. Joshua Chatman (27:06.727) Mm-hmm. Joshua Chatman (27:10.174) Yeah, yeah, that’s good. Joshua Chatman (27:20.147) Mm-hmm. Austin (27:21.89) Jesus didn’t make everybody a pastor. You know, there’s the glory of God in a Christian banker doing his work unto the Lord and loving his neighbors. That’s a witness, right? Joshua Chatman (27:24.92) Nope. Joshua Chatman (27:33.166) Come on, facts, come on, come on. Yeah, yeah, I think I would even say, hey, fast and pray for that job, for the group of people, your coworkers, your colleagues. Again, especially if you can’t like. to the point you say like, man, to where I go, if you have to remain there, all the more fast and pray. Again, not saying you gotta look to leave immediately, at the same time, God may call you to stay, and if he does, fast, pray, reach out to people for accountability, reach out to people for encouragement, to where you can persevere, and really seek to be salt and light in the ways that you communicate, to not contribute to a culture of being critical. You know, and do it with humility, obviously, because you don’t want to be like, man, I’m gonna kill y’all with kindness. But, you know, it’s real and it’s hard. Praise God that we have a sympathetic high priest though. And praise the Lord that Jesus is tender, like. Austin (28:33.736) Yep. Austin (28:41.814) Yes. Yeah. Joshua Chatman (28:47.594) You know, Matthew 12, he will not break a Bruce Reed. He will not put out a smoldering wick. And so there, I imagine there are brothers and sisters who are beaten up and greatly discouraged by this, to which I would just wanna remind them, like Jesus sees it, Jesus knows, Jesus can sustain, and he will, he often does, and he uses his people towards that end. And so yeah. Austin (29:11.734) That’s a great place to end it. Why don’t I open us in prayer and you can close it and we can just ask for the Lord’s help in this. Joshua Chatman (29:17.875) Yeah. Austin (29:20.83) Heavenly Father, thank you that you promise to help your people. And you have given us your spirit to make us more like Jesus. And that’s what we want, Lord. We want to be more like the Lord Jesus. We want to be as kind and as patient and as loving towards everyone, whether we agree with them, disagree them, like them, understand them. We we want to love all of our neighbors. And we ask for your help in that. We ask for help for our listeners. We hear enough feedback to know of some of the difficult situations some of them are in, and Lord, I pray for them as they deal with difficult churches or families or coworkers. Make them like Jesus and make that a compelling witness to all who can see them. In Jesus’ name, amen. Joshua Chatman (29:55.095) Hmm. Joshua Chatman (30:07.394) Mm-hmm. Amen. Father, we do pray for those who are discouraged and sad, God, that they will know that you are near to the brokenhearted. You do not withdraw from your people who are hurting, but you draw near. And Father, we pray for all, all Christians, all of us, God, that we would be a people who are loving, God, who are eager to show love. who seek to walk by your spirit and bear the fruit of the spirit, especially in these conversations about ethnic harmony. God, may we be loving, may we be winsome, may we be humble, as my brother talked about. Lord, may we really seek to reflect Christ. May our gaze be upon Jesus, knowing that you will transform us into his image from one degree of glory to the next. And we pray that will be evident by your grace in us showing charity and us being charitable towards others. Father, we pray that our disposition, our attitude, our words will be so set apart. God, that it would cause people to see the difference that you have made in our lives, that it would testify to your saving work by your grace and for your glory. Lord, may Christians be set apart in this. May we walk in love to the glory of your name, in Jesus’ name, amen. Austin (31:41.906) Amen. Thanks for suggesting this episode. Joshua Chatman (31:46.872) Yeah, man. Well, brother, this has been… I’ve been very encouraged by you, seriously. Austin (31:53.162) Well, that’s the Lord’s work. Joshua Chatman (31:56.262) Amen. Austin (31:56.886) Seriously. All right, thank you all for listening. Grace and peace.